iOS 17.4 was released last month with breakthrough changes for iPhone owners in the EU, including the ability to use third-party app stores and pay for apps and services outside of Apple’s App Store.
This was made possible by force, and the European Digital Markets Act now allows Apple to do these things. Otherwise, it would never have happened. A similar case of a “walled garden” where third parties can’t penetrate is the ability to pay for goods using the iPhone’s NFC feature, but the company has added this feature to its own services. Restricted to Apple Pay only. But things will probably change in the EU next month.
At the time, the European Commission (EC) announced plans to introduce tap-to-pay NFC functionality, which allows contactless payments using third-party mobile wallets, according to a “person familiar with the matter” who spoke to Reuters. He plans to agree to Apple’s proposal to open up the country. This proposal from Apple came in the wake of a four-year investigation he first made in January.
If the EC approves the plan, Apple will avoid a finding of fraud and manage to avoid a hefty fine that could amount to 10% of the company’s annual global sales. . Apple was fined 1.84 billion euros last month for blocking competition from Spotify and other rivals through App Store restrictions, its first EU antitrust fine. . Clearly, Apple also wants this to be the last.
